Of course not. We force-feed hunger strikers in Gitmo everyday, that’s not a negotiation.
The story claims that Thatcher gave in on the demand that the IRA prisoners not be required to wear prison issued clothing. That would thus mean that the IRA inmates were Prisoners of War.
That would have elevated Sands to POW Status and recognized that the UK was at war with the IRA.
Sorry, but force feeding has nothing to do with the IRA story.
So now, what makes you think that Thatcher gave into the demand of terrorists and that she wanted to recognize that fact that the UK was at War with the IRA?